The lead single from Michael Jackson's eighth studio album shot to No.1
in the UK on 17th November 1991, just six days after it's release, and
spent two weeks at the top and selling 13 million copies worldwide. The
song's main lyrics were written by Michael, with the rap lyrics being
written by Bill Bottrell who also co-produced the song with Michael.

Dangerous was MJ's first album release with Sony, and although it
was hugely successful achieving 6x Platinum (7x Platinum in America),
this was still not as successful as Thriller which achieved an incredible 29x Platinum in the U.S.

A further eight songs were released as singles from the album, with
seven of these reaching the Top Ten in the UK during 1992 and 1993.
However, in the U.S. the songs weren't as well-received, with just Black Or White being the only chart-topper, and Jam and Heal The World only just scraping into the Top 30. The previous album, Bad, produced five American No.1's.

Released on 31st August 1992, Sleeping Satellite reached #1 on
11th October and spent two weeks at the top of the UK singles chart. The
song was a global hit and was lifted from Tasmin Archer's aptly-titled
and successful debut album Great Expectations, which reached #8. I
say aptly-titled, because the English singer was getting a lot of media
attention and was expected to become very successful.

However, although her next three single releases from the album all made
it into the Top 40, she quickly faded into oblivion after this, with
her next album, Bloon, not being released until 1996 and failing to chart.

The three singles released from Great Expectations were; In Your Care (reached #16), Lords Of The New Church (#26) and Arienne (#30). The 1994 EP Shipbuilding (which
didn't feature on the album) also just made it into the Top 40, peaking
at #40, making this Tasmin Archer's last Top 40 hit. Still, at least
the girl had one successful album and a high quality No.1 single, which
is something to be proud of.

Simply Red - Fairground (1995)

Fairground spent four weeks at the top of the UK singles chart
from 24th September 1995. The video features Mick Hucknall driving to
Blackpool Pleasure Beach at night, which has been invaded by his friends
despite being closed. Lifted from the album Life, the song was written and partly produced by Mick Hucknall. Stewart Levine also had a hand in producing the song.

Life is an upbeat album with mature lyrics and quite a diverse
range of songs. The soul is lightweight, but the use of urban beats help
to make this a very enjoyable, uplifting album to listen to. Using a
sample of The Goodmen's Give It Up, Fairground was
certainly the most modern track that Simply Red had released as a
single, and it became their only No.1. Whether this style of music
realises the full potential of Mick Hucknall's vocals is a debatable
point, and I personally don't think the album is as good as Stars. But I
admire the band for trying out something different and they certainly
sound like they they had a lot of fun in the process.

Britney Spears - Baby One More Time (1999)

The debut single and title track from Britney Spears' debut album
reached No.1 in the British singles chart on 21st Feb 1999, and remained
there for two weeks. In fact, the song topped the charts in every
European country that it charted in. The video features Britney's iconic
schoolgirl look, and singing the lyrics "hit me baby one more time"
wearing a school uniform was guaranteed to cause controversy.

The song itself received much praise from the critics, and was described
by many as being a well-composed pop song with a great hook that will
be remembered for some time to come.

Britney's debut album sold 28 million units worldwide and achieved
multi-Platinum in many countires. It remains the American pop star's
biggest-selling album. A further three singles were released from the
album in the UK; Sometimes (#3), (You Drive Me) Crazy (#5) and Born To Make You Happy (#1). The final single From The Bottom Of My Broken Heart was never released in the UK, although it still reached #178 in the singles chart due to imported versions.

Kylie Minogue - Better The Devil You Know (1990)

Released in April 1990, Better The Devil You Know went on to reach No.2 in the British charts on 19th May, being held off the top spot by Adamski and Seal with Killer, which was enjoying its third week at the top.

The song was the lead single from Kylie's third studio album Rhythm Of Love
which was released later in the year during November. The accompanying
video was the first to feature Kylie in a more adult mode, and saw her
trying to ditch her "girl next door" image. Three more singles were
released from her third album; Step Back In Time (#4), What Do I Have To Do (#6) and Shocked (#6).

The catchy-pop album was generally more grown-up than her previous work,
and Kylie had more of a hand in the songwriting. However, she still
hadn't taken full control of the songs and Stock, Aitken & Waterman
were still heavily involved in the production, although even this
sounded more mature than on the previous chart-topping album Enjoy Yourself.

During the 90s, the pop star's new image didn't really help her to
achieve the success she had experienced with her last album, which had
reached 4x Platinum in the UK. Rhythm Of Love did acheive Platinum, reaching #9 in the album charts, but the following three album releases only achieved Gold or Silver.

It was during the 2000's that Kylie started to experience bigger
success, with all five of her album releases achieving Platinum. In 2001
the Australian singer reached the peak of her career with the Fever album which achieved 5x Platinum any sold over 1.6 million copies in the UK alone. It also reached #3 in the U.S.

U2 - The Fly (1991)

This top quality tune was the lead single from U2's seventh and most successful studio album, Achtung Baby. The song topped the UK charts for one week on 27th Oct 1991, only to be knocked
off the top spot by comedian Vic Reeves & The Wonder Stuff with Dizzy.

The Fly saw U2 leaving their 80s sound well and truly behind
them, and reinventing themsleves with trendy industrial beats and
distorted vocals, and topped the charts in many countries.

Achtung Baby was released a month later on 19th November and went
on to sell around 18 million copies worldwide. A further four singles
were released from the album; Mysterious Things, One, Even Better Than The Real Thing and Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses.
The album is a bit of a masterpiece, with no fillers and a diverse
range of songs. It features intelligent music from a band at the peak of
their career. This is electro-rock at its finest!